Third Eye Blind Guitarist Sues Rest of Band

Tony Fredianelli of Third Eye Blind is suing the band for apparently being denied songwriting credits and benefits that he allegedly was entitled to. A length letter from Tony can be seen below.

TVCY alum and 3eb friends and family,
Thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and support.

I am equally disheartened with the choices my band mates are making and would like you all to know I think it does our band an incredible disservice to offer up what I believe to be a substandard alternative to the quality you’ve come to know, deserve and expect in a live performance.

I think you all should know a little about the situation I find myself in. And there are some big pieces I must leave out for now. But they STRONGLY reinforce my posting and it will come out soon at a time and place of my choosing, not my band mate’s.

Currently I have been given no information on what Stephan and Brad’s position are in respect to my status with the band. I have requested, as is my right, to a complete audit of all accounting related to our band, taken at my own expense to either prove or disprove the accounting accuracy. This is a commonplace thing in the corporate world. When you believe you have a dispute, verify through an audit.

It’s appearing more and more likely I will need to hire a lawyer to subpoena financial records and force this turnover instead of having it happen as it should by personal request. I have too much credible evidence that I must force it to happen. I have placed my trust in people who have let me down tremendously.

Why is this happening?

In part, I can tell you that I am not credited in 4 songs as a songwriter on Ursa Major. I also have been unable to collect any publishing money for the Red Star EP, publishing money for Ursa Major, nor I have to date received any money in record advances or record royalties OR my share of other endorsements of products currently being marketed, or about to be marketed. If those were all of my grievances that would be bad enough, but sadly there are more, and much more.

There is no legal or ethical justification to deny me an open book accounting but that is currently what is going on. Would you trust people who tell you everything is above boards but won’t allow you to look at your own books?

The official response appears to be “We don’t know which way Tony will go?” Given the choice under these circumstances the only choice I can make is to demand and independent accounting of all income and expenses related to third eye blind and an answer with respect to what position it is my band mates are taking if that is not to be allowed.

I am also equally disturbed to find, after a year and a half of being told that I could not reach out to my brother Arion due to a lawsuit with our ex manager, upon the conclusion of that case I found that Arion is happy and healthy and has been for quite some time and could have returned at any time. I believe this information was not shared with me because everyone here knows I would have lobbied hard for Arion’s return to the band without any delay, any conditions and afforded every right, financial included, from the day before he was ousted.

And I believe the only proper way to remedy this situation is for Arion to come back and for Abe to receive a raise and be moved to utility musician and co songwriter, and since Stephan has a soft spot for Lee, he should offer to produce her record at our studio for free and maybe offer her a spot on a part of a 3eb tour in the future as a way of saying thank you, and to fulfill whatever promises he may have made instead of giving her the belief she has the songs and riffs in her to make 3eb albums.
And now some thoughts on the broader view I take…

Sadly it has become the American way to worship the almighty dollar. There will always be people in the area of business who mislead their shareholders, shred documents, falsify accounting, use financial positioning to bully, use people’s talents, take credit where credit is not deserved and step on people on their way up the ladder, make side deals to exclude others, unlawfully seize power and embezzle millions, while sacrificing every sort of moral, ethical and legal code in the quest for power and money. Thankfully we live in a democracy where people have free speech. There is freedom of the press. Freedom for people to write books and expose criminals by bringing out the truth, no matter how ugly the truth may be. There are courts of justice and jails to house corrupted individuals, there are associations to disbar crooked attorneys, and there are forensic investigators to uncover faulty accountants and law enforcement to protect people’s rights, and there is a free press ready to report, and no one, no matter how rich, can escape the karma of the deeds they sow. No one.

All 3eb fans and especially the TVCY core are owed much, much more than what is currently transpiring. My position is this. Live up to your agreements, allow for Arion’s return, give me what you owe me or prove that you don’t owe me, or I am fully prepared and have many powerful people in the music business who have listened to my complete story and are shocked and want to help me in any way that they can. Everyone here at TVCY knows the real story anyways and will not be surprised by any of what I am saying. I put my heart and soul into this band and into my connection with the fans above any selfish desire since returning to the band in 1999. I have looked for and made many compromises for the sake of peace and the gory details of my experience will come out one day, but for now let this be officially said. Any song, any guitar part, any production idea and any unreleased recordings that bears my work is off limits to my band mates unless matters are resolved.

I am also building a street team and am focusing on making a record while I wait for some sort of official response from my band mates.

I received a very valuable anonymous tip from someone out there who just wanted to do the right thing and blow the whistle on what they saw as a terrible injustice, and I thank them for that. Anyone that wants to come forward, anonymous or not, on the record or off, and believes they have something that I should be told, feel free to make contact with Ashley and help the cause of justice. Everyone here deserves the best music, the best musicians, and the greatest songs as a debt we owe you. As a band, third eye blind has been incredibly non-productive with respects to its output. If the past is any measure of what the future will look like, the least my band mates could do is assure that ALL the music that gets put out with our name on it and all the shows that go out the door are worth your money. Anything short of that is shameful. Anyone here who wants to help, let your voices be heard. Not just to me, speak out. Your power is in numbers and your posts. Rather than complaining to me about the censorship you’re experiencing at 3eb.com, flood their servers with your complaints. The fans should not be viewed as merely purchasers of a commodity, a database, or as little people beneath you as you look down upon them from the stage. That has never been my belief and never will be. And no one lucky enough to have a career in music has any place for that kind of ego in my opinion. Ego and greed are the great destroyers of everything beautiful on earth.

Without you guys we are nothing. Without you there would be none of this. And it’s reflected by the amount of time a person puts in interacting with the core of his fan base. TVCY are really apt at discerning the difference between PR and truth. They deserve answers to questions that are substantive rather than questions that are irrelevant and have been answered a million times before. The thing I like most about TVCY is their bluntness and straightforwardness. And if it were up to me they would get every answer to every single question. Sadly I have been unable to get them important answers they most certainly deserve.

One last thing, you all should know something. Everything that I have learned has also left me quite broken hearted. Music is my life. Third eye blind has been my life for many years. The last thing I would ever want to have happen is to see this happen to our band. Sadly I’ve learned too much to be able to trust blindly in people I had faith in and must draw a line in the sand. I do apologize to you on behalf of our band.

Much love to everyone and I will be in contact again soon.
Tony Fredianelli

Third Eye Blind released Ursa Major last year and are following up with Ursa Minor, which is a selection of songs that did not make it onto Ursa Major later this year.